Thought Leadership
Waymo, Google’s sister company specializing in autonomous driving, is planning to enter one of the world’s busiest cities: New York City.
With its self-driving robotaxis, the company wants to take the next big step in urban mobility here too – but there are still legal hurdles in the way.
Autonomous driving in New York: approval still pending
The operation of driverless vehicles is currently not permitted by law in the US state of New York. However, in order to collect data and prepare for later use, Waymo has now applied for a permit for autonomous test drives with safety drivers. At the same time, driver-operated vehicles will be on the road in urban traffic to create detailed maps and environmental data. Waymo already carried out a similar mapping campaign in New York in 2021.
Waymo: market leader in robotaxis
Waymo is considered a pioneer in the field of autonomous vehicles. In four US cities – including Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles – the company carries out over 250,000 passenger journeys per week with a fleet of more than 1,500 robotaxis. The technology is based on a combination of cameras, sensors and high-precision lidar systems that enable reliable detection of the surroundings.
Strong competition: Tesla and Amazon get involved
But the competition is not sleeping: Tesla boss Elon Musk announced that he will soon be launching his own robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. Tesla is pursuing a different technical approach and is relying solely on cameras – without additional sensors such as lidar. However, experts doubt that Tesla’s approach can offer a level of safety comparable to Waymo in the short term.
Amazon is also investing in the robotaxi market: its subsidiary Zoox recently unveiled a production facility near San Francisco, where up to 10,000 autonomous vehicles are to be manufactured each year – without steering wheels or pedals. The first Zoox vehicles are already on the road in Las Vegas, with other cities such as San Francisco, Austin and Miami to follow.
Autonomous mobility picks up speed
Waymo’s foray into New York is another milestone on the road to the nationwide introduction of autonomous cabs. Despite regulatory hurdles, current developments show that the mobility of the future is driverless: The mobility of the future is driverless – and the competition for supremacy has long since begun.
dpa
